“There are still snow showers to come for northern and western parts this evening. Overnight Northern Ireland, western and northern parts of Scotland and down through Wales might see a few centimetres,” Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples said.

On higher ground, Northern Ireland and Scotland could see another 10cm.

For some parts of the country the wintry showers will be falling on already snow-blanketed ground.

The snow is expected to move through into Gloucestershire and Shropshire and surrounding areas tomorrow, and possibly as far south as Cornwall, Exmoor, Dartmoor and parts of the Cotswolds.

It will be the east coast that takes the brunt of the snow on Saturday, with a dusting down as far as the Thames Estuary and parts of Kent expected.

The snow comes after an exceptionally mild December Photo: PA

For the rest of the country, it should become drier and brighter over the weekend.

“Most of the weekend it’s dry with plenty of sunshine, but with some fog patches overnight that may be slow to clear on Sunday morning, which might make it feel quite raw,” Ms Sharples said.

There is a risk of “some quite severe frost” overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

Up to 10cm of snow fell on higher ground Photo: Corbis

The weather is expected to become more mild next week as a new Atlantic weather system arrives from the west, although the transition could see more sleet and snow falling.